E-mail this article

Sending your article

If the Red Sox are able to come to an agreement with Mike Napoli, they probably won't make any significant financial additions to the 2013 roster before spring training starts on Feb. 12.

They need a lefthanded hitting bench player of some sort, probably a first baseman, and maybe a veteran infielder who can compete for a spot on the roster. But beyond that, their team looks fairly set.

So let's take a look at the financial aspects of how the roster has changed.

So, the Red Sox dropped roughly $105.275 and will add roughly $95.66 million. Their payroll will remain pretty much what it was last season, around $176 million. That is just under the $178 million line for paying the competitive balance tax.

You can certainly debate the merits of the players the Red Sox added. But there's no denying that the money saved in the Dodgers trade was spent, as ownership promised it would be.

It remains to be seen how the Sox proceed in 2014, '15 and beyond with the money saved by trading Beckett, Crawford and Gonzalez. But based on their actions this winter, there's no reason to think it won't be plowed back into the roster.

All the roster turnover — along with the new manager and almost entirely new coaching staff — has to be considered a plus. While no one person is at fault for what has transpired since Sept. of 2011, it was evident that the Sox needed a new cast of characters and they have that.